The Phoenix and the Black Bird
by BloodCri
Summary: A girl washes up on the Titan's Beach. When they decide make her Titan 6 they find themselves facing a problem, for she has a deep dark secret that could help or destroy the team. Please RR, COMPLETE!, story gets alot better towards the end.
1. Crimson Tears

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hi its me Christy I hope you enjoy my story I will welcome any changes you think will help me make the story better but please say it in a kind manner I don't like being yelled at. Oh and for the disclaimer thing my story is not a mix of all of those I just take ideas from them.

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**Chapter 1 : Crimson Tears**  
  
One clear crisp night in late October, a group of young heroes called the Teen Titans find themselves watching a marathon of horror movies. The movies were watched with the curtains drawn, to hide the light of the almost full moon. All of this being done in honor of the quickly approaching holiday, Halloween. Looking at the stiff figures on the leather couch, you will notice that all but one of the 5 figures look scared out of their wits. The only one who doesn't seem to care is Raven, an indigo eyed pale girl with violet hair. A green skinned teen, who goes by the name of Beastboy, is busy biting his nails down to nothing. Another teen with auburn hair and orange skin named Starfire attempts to hide behind the cape of the wide eyed teen wonder Robin. A tall half robot named Cyborg sits rigid, his eyes glued to the TV screen. This is where our story, _her_ story, begins.  
  
About half way through the Titans second movie Raven senses an extra life force on Titans Island. She taps Robin lightly on the shoulder and he almost jumps through the roof. "Robin", she addresses him in a monotone voice. "There is someone else on the island other than us but their life force is very faint...And before you accuse me of my powers acting up like they did when I saw Wicked Scary I can still use them." She emphasized her point by making him float through the air.

Robin quickly grabs the remote and turns off the movie. "Titans, Raven thinks there is someone else on the island. Cyborg you start a scan with your computer, Beastboy you check the water around the island, Starfire you check the air, and Raven you search the coast. I will look around the tower. We need to find them quickly Raven believes that they may be hurt. Titans GO."  
  
A pale girl with a very tight muscular body washes up on the beach, her long blonde hair sticking to her head and neck. She is dressed in long hip hugging black leather pants, knee high boots with spikes for heels, and a red leather no sleeve shirt. On her arms she wears a pair of heavy steel gauntlets and her fingerless gloves show sharp crimson painted nails outlined with black at the cuticle.

A long duffle bag washes up beside her it also is black. The girl rolls over onto her back showing a strange black symbol painted on the front of her shirt. She glances beside her and relief floods through her because her duffle bag wasn't lost at sea. She watches the moon with her pale grey-blue eyes and a single crimson tear rolls down her cheek and she notices a figure of a person looming over her, blocking out the light of the moon, before she passes out from pure exhaustion.

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I hope you like my story now...I have done TONS of fixing up on each chapter and that's why I haven't been updating.


	2. Friend or Foe? Human or Not?

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hi this is Christy and just as an FYI I got one review for the first chapter...one that's it but I'm updating for the sake of that one person who read and reviewed, so please review I will no longer settle for one review per chapter. I'm gonna try and update every day but the chapters will be shortish.

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**Chapter 2 : Friend or Foe? Human or not?**

The girl's eyelids open slightly and she groans and pulls a blanket over her head. After a moment her eyes shoot open and she sits up quickly...which she immediately regretted because of her pounding headache. 'What the heck is a blanket doing on me?' She wondered. 'And where am I?' She looked around the room she was in noticing a giant TV to her left and a small kitchen with a mini fridge to her right.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a voice. "Hey guys get over here she is awake." She turns to a short green kid who spoke. "Who are you" she asked raising one eyebrow. 'He looks A LOT like an elf working for Santa but, knowing my enemies, I better not take any chances.' The girl gives him an icy glare that could compete with Raven's. "How about this, I will give you 10 seconds to answer before I..." she is cut off when the other Titans come in.

The girl quickly looks over the Titans and spots Raven. "You guys are the Teen Titans am I right? I'm only guessing because I have heard about Raven being on the team...but that's all I know. Oh and sorry lil green...person. I didn't mean to snap like that" Beastboy nods. "Its ok, we all get snapped at a lot from Raven." Raven walks up to him and hits him on the back of the head. "Yeowch! What did I say?"

Robin seems amazed that she hasent heard of the other Titans. "What?" she asks innocently. "My name is Robin and this is Cyborg, Beastboy, Starfire, and you already know about Raven" He says gesturing to each one of the Titans in turn. After hesitating for a moment the girl tells them her name. "My name is Cri (Cry)...Oh and where is my bag? It's very long, and its jet black. I have something of great...importance in it." Beastboy picks up her bag from the next room and brings it in, setting it down next to the couch. "Thanks", she says, smiling at him, flashing her pearly white teeth.

"Well now that the introductions are over, perhaps you would like to watch our horror movie marathon with us" Robin offered cheerfully. "Unless of course you don't like horror movies." He quickly put in so as not to offend her. "Ya," Beastboy shouted and quickly made an observation before he could stop himself. "You seem like you must like horror movies! I mean your dressed like someone from one of those murder movies that take place in the 1970's" Beastboy quickly slapped one hand over his mouth but Cri just started laughing. "I...I guess I am sort of dressed like the spy...or maybe even the villain." She flashed Beastboy an evil smile making him shrink in fear. "Anyway I would love to join the horror movie marathon thing."

Unlike the Titans, excluding that "Ice Queen" Raven, she seemed to enjoy the movies a lot more than she was afraid of them. During the more gory scenes Raven sensed a dark aura appear around the strange girl and once, out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn Cri licked her lips...

That night she followed Robin down the hallway. "You will be sleeping in here Cri", he said opening the door to a vacant room. "It was Ravens old room so I hope you don't mind if it is painted black." Cri took one look at the room and smiled in such a way it scared the Boy Wonder. "No I don't mind...I don't mind at all. In fact it's just perfect."

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I know you hate me for leaving a cliffhanger but get used to it, I'm gonna have one ending in every chapter and all you have to do is wait until the next day to find out what happens. Aren't I mean?


	3. Breakfast

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hi it's me Christy I'm happy to report that I will continue the story because of the reviews now on with the review replies and the story!!!

Vertago1 – Thanks a bunch for your kind words and being my first review

Random Hero – Well duh I can nail Ravens personality! I'm her BIGGEST fan....Well it's true.

Dragongrowl - sorry for the spelling and grammar mishaps you try writing a story! Lol. Oh and this is also my first story EVER so there will be a bit of weirdness.

**Chapter 3 : Breakfast

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The next morning Raven slept in. She cursed staying up as late as she did, and now she wouldn't be able to meditate. She quickly got out of bed, showered, and dressed in her normal Teen Titans uniform. She quickly exited the sanctuary of her room and as she walked down the hall she sensed all of the Titans just waking up. She soon got to Cri's room but as she passed it she sensed it was empty. 'She either woke up early or she ran away.' She thought bitterly. She somewhat hoped it was the second of the 2 options.

She heard Robin's and Beastboy's door open behind her. The second Beastboy noticed her he ran to catch up. "Hey Raven, did you just wake up? I thought your motto was the early _bird_ gets the worm. Get it? Bird? Raven?" Beastboy started laughing at his own joke and Raven rolled her eyes and quickly thought of a comeback. "I may not be an early bird today Beastboy but no matter what anyone does, your always a worm." Beastboy quickly shut up and mentally slapped himself for making jokes about Raven this early.

Cyborg, soon after, jogs up behind Beastboy and the others. "Hey what's up ya'll? Guess what? I'm cooking breakfast!!" Beastboy almost instantly objects and they start to argue. Starfire floats out of her room and lands between the two. "Friends must never fight, I am positive we can resolve this in a kind manner." Cyborg and Beastboy just look at Starfire and continue arguing. Star sighs and follows the others into the living room.

Everyone looks to the kitchen where they get the shock of the morning. "Good morning everyone I just wanted to do something to say thank you for saving my life." The five titans stare at the huge breakfast made by Cri. "I had to run to the store to get a few things but it wasn't that bad only a few miles." All the Titans continue to gape except raven who only looks mildly shocked. "Well? Aren't ya gonna eat before everything gets cold?"

The Titans walk to the table. "Ok the tofu veggie omlette, toast, and fresh fruit is for Beastboy. The T-bone steak, eggs, and hash browns are for Cyborg. Get it beast boy? "_T"_-bone? The scrambled eggs, sausage, and hash browns are for Robin. The sunny side up eggs, bacon, and pancakes are for Starfire and I made my own special herbal tea for Raven." She sets down a cup of amber colored tea. "And before anyone asks no I'm not gonna have anything because I already ate."

As Cri walks away to examine Cyborg and Beastboy's video games Cyborg quickly tests all the food for poison and finds none. "Don't worry Cyborg," Cri says without looking up. "I wouldn't poison you or your friends. If I wanted to kill you I would have done it while you were sleeping." The Titans are stunned and were wondering the same thing. 'Cyborg's systems are silent. So how did she know without looking up?'

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Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. Have a great day.


	4. Training

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Dragongrowl – Thanks a bunch for understanding and for your kind words.

Hi I'm back! My dad is on his deadline and needs the computer a lot so if I miss a day of updating don't be mad.

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**Chapter 4 : Training**

The Titans ate, or in Ravens case drank, their breakfast in silence. 'How did Cri know I only drink tea and beast boy is a vegetarian and Cyborg loves meat?' Wondered Raven. She looked at the other Titans and their expressions showed that they were thinking the same exact thing she was. 'This is too creepy she knows a lot of things she shouldn't.'

Raven set her now empty tea mug in the sink and noticed that the other Titans were just finishing up too. 'I bet my charka gem that Robin is going to ask Cri about her powers and abilities and then go into the training room and test them.'

She watched Robin finish up washing the dishes. He then quickly walked over to Cri who had made a small pile of video games she wanted to play. "Excuse me Cri, but do you have any type of super power or abilities." Cri just raised one eyebrow at first and regarded him with a dull expression.

She suddenly jumped to her feet. "I thought you would never ask! I can control the elements and I can "copy" the super power of any superhero I run into. I also adopt their personality and my eyes change color according to the super power and personality." She said excitedly. And I also have a wraith blade attached to my right arm called the Dragon Buster."

Upon hearing the comment about Cri having a wraith blade Raven jumped to her feet. "Wraith blades are very dangerous I hope you know! They actually have a life of their own!" All the Titans just stared at Raven and then at Cri.

Cyborg took a few hesitant steps toward her. "May I see this, wraith blade thing ya'll are claimin' to have?" Cri smiled her odd little half smile, her cold grey/blue eyes locking with Cyborg's seeming to look right through him. "I will show you at training if I feel like it ok? Now who wants to be my first victim?" Cri smiled and winked at Robin but unfortunately for her Starfire saw. "I will Cri and I will let you know that I will not be defeated easily." Starfire got up and dragged her away green sparks coming out of her eyes. "Wait a minute, why are you angry at me? What did I do?"

Starfire stood in an arena like room with the rest of the Titans watching from bleachers built into the side of the room. A chain link fence with an energy field over it was used to protect the spectators from any stray attacks. Cri smiled at the size of the room. 'Perfect now there's only one thing missing.' Cri's eyes flashed indigo and her bag appeared at her feet. Raven suddenly gasped. She had sensed that her aura had changed to mach her own for a split second.

Cri dug in her bag and pulled out a long wooden box. She also pulled out her gauntlets and snapped them on. "Don't worry star I will blunt them so you don't get hurt." Starfire had no clue what she meant until she pulled two wicked looking three foot blades out of the box and snapped them to her gauntlets. "Almost ready don't worry." She flicked her right wrist and the blade snapped down and she caught its handle. She ran her finger over the length of the blade and did the same with the other. "Ok star its safe if you don't believe me come here and look for yourself." Starfire came down and felt the blade feeling a somewhat soft non sharp half inch clearance from the blade. "See? It's perfectly safe. Oh and star? I'm ready"

Cri swung her other blade at Star. She ducked and tried to tackle Cri but she avoided her with ease. The fight continued for ten long minutes Cri never tiring. She demonstrated many abilities during that short time including flight, limited super speed, and an "afterimage" she can leave behind to trick enemies. The fight ended with star lying on her back and Cri pointing the tip of her right blade at her throat. She then snapped her blades back and helped Starfire up. "That was fun! We have to do that again sometime."

Cri walked back to the stands where the other titans just sat there...gaping. "What? Did I do something wrong?...WHAT?!?" Raven came to her senses and cleared her throat. Its just no one has ever beaten Starfire that fast and flawlessly no less." Cri just laughed and flicked her hair behind her ears and Raven could have sworn that, just for a split second that Cri's ears were pointed.

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Hope you like this chunk...I know you hate cliffhangers but this is a big chunk so don't be too mad with me.


	5. Attack

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hi, its me, Christy I'm not getting enough reviews so tell your friends about this story or else I might stop writing and you wouldn't want that now would you?

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**Chapter 5 : Attack**

Raven called the Titans into a living room meeting while Cri was out for a walk. "Now what's this all about Raven?" Beastboy said impatiently. "I wanna go play Gamestation." Raven just rolled her eyes. "Listen everyone, you all remember when Cri flipped her hair behind her ears, right?" Cyborg suddenly shot Raven a glare. "What does this have to do with anything? I want to play Gamestation with Beastboy!" Raven glared at Cyborg. "I'm getting to that. When Cri flipped her hair behind her ears I thought, but only for a second, her ears were pointed. I also sensed a dramatic change in her aura."

Robin thought for a minute. "Are you saying she might be some sort of monster or evil demon in disguise?" Raven flinched at his comment about deamons. Robin looked slightly concerned having no idea why she flinched. "Friend Raven are you ok?" Starfire asked in a concerned voice. "Ya" Robin agreed. "You never and I mean NEVER flinch." Raven nodded. "Don't worry I'm fine. And about what you said Robin, it could be true. But I need to first know how good she is with a bow and arrow. She might be an elf." The others nodded and waited for Cri's return.

As soon as Cri got back to Titans Tower Raven confronted her. "Cri, I have a question for you." The young girl smiled. "Ask away Raven, I'm all ears." For a second Raven thought she knew but concluded that it was just a coincidence, wasn't it? "Well Cri I want to know if you can shoot a bow and arrow."

Cri just stared at her for a moment then laughed out loud. "You have to be kidding me! I can hit a bulls eye from over 250 feet! Look I even have my own bow." Cri reaches down into her bag and pulls out a bow made of black wood with a silver handle and silver on each end. The top and bottom of each side of the handle had a blood red ruby set into it. She then pulls out a long cylinder pouch and sure enough it was full of black wood arrows with obsidian heads. The end feathers were probably from a raven or a crow.

Raven gaped at them. It was clear that whoever had made them was an amazing craftsman. "I can see you like them Raven. I did make them myself." Raven continued to gape until Robin came in. "Hi Raven. Hi Cri...Whoa, where did you get that bow and arrow set?" Cri smiled with pride "I made them Robin."

Robin gave Raven a look that seemed to say, 'is this enough proof for you?' Suddenly his communicator went off. All the Titans quickly gathered in the living room and Cri noticed everyone but Robin had something on them that was blinking in one way or another. "What's with the blinking?" Starfire opened her mouth to explain but was silenced by Raven's hand. "Slade and his robots are attacking the bank." Robin said sternly. "Titans GO!!!"

Cri just stood there watching them run into the elevator. Robin turned around and saw she wasn't following. He quickly motioned for her to follow. "Come on Cri we could use the help of someone with your skill." Cri nodded, absolutely flattered, and followed them to the T-Car.

They soon arrived at the scene of the crime and Robin jumped out of the car. "Titans GO!!!" Cri, assuming he was referring to her too, immediately started attacking Slade's robots, using her blades to cut them into little pieces. Raven, using the pieces from the robots Cri destroyed like bullets, pocketed the front ranks of the robots with dings and holes. Cyborg and Beastboy, in gorilla form of course, smashed and ripped the robots into little pieces with a game of tug-of-war. Starfire used her eyebeams to melt the robots' feet to the ground and then destroyed them with a barrage of starbolts.

A short ways into the fight a slightly more intelligent robot slipped away from the others and used its laser gun to cut through the supports of a rather large billboard. When it was almost cut loose, the robot pushed the billboard over trying to make it land on Beastboy. Cri noticed what the robot was trying to do just in time. "Beastboy look out!" Cri sprinted to him and shoved him out of the way and the billboard fell on her.

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Ok people, that was a longer chapter so I hope you're happy. The next chapter will help explain why the title was named what it was named. Have a nice day


	6. Fiery Darkness

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Sorry it took me so long...my dad needed the computer and I was just lazy...I'm sorry don't hurt me please

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**Chapter 6 : Fiery Darkness**

Raven couldn't believe what she just saw. A stupid robot had gotten smart and killed a potential teammate...She glanced over at the others and noticed their shock too, but before any words can be spoken or any actions taken a strange bird like screech fills the air. A large phoenix made entirely out of red, orange, and yellow fire burns through the billboard where Cri had stood a few moments before. Its wingspan was roughly 5 feet across. Its head and body was about 3 feet, 6 feet if you included the tail.

The phoenix took flight and dove at the robot who had dropped the billboard on Cri. It quickly dodged the lasers that were fired at it and dug its talons into the robots back. The bird then wrapped its wings around the entire upper half of the robot and wound its tail around its legs causing the robot to just combust and melt into little more than a puddle of molten metal.

The phoenix landed on the billboard in the same spot it had appeared in. It slowly turns its head toward the Titans, Its solid ice blue eyes seem to look right into their very souls. It suddenly dawns on Raven that she knows exactly what's going on. "Cri has a soul-self!!!" She quickly shouts to the others. "The phoenix over there is Cri's soul-self!!! Similar to mine but it's a phoenix..."

Raven then realized something had to be wrong. 'Elves don't have soul-selves,' she thought to herself. 'Only dark creatures do, and never an animal as pure and majestic as a phoenix. They are always dark or even evil creatures out of someone's worst nightmare, aren't they?' Raven concluded that Cri was definitely a lot more than was she pretending to be.

Cri's soul-self spread its wings and, in a beautiful display of fire and sparks, changed back. Raven once again glanced her with pointed ears but she didn't seem to care about it at the moment, nor did anyone else. What caught Raven's and all the other Titan's attention was the huge gash in her left shoulder and how pale she was from the loss of blood. Cri just stood there clutching her shoulder with her right hand panting. "Ok that's it." She growled between her teeth. "Now I'm mad."

Cri took her hand off of her injury and held it out to her side. Her arm starded to glow red and black swirls moved around it, suddenly the energy shot out into a 3 foot long energy sword attached to her arm. "Alright boys and girls, its time to meet the Dragon Buster." She touched the tip of the wraith blade to her wound, completely hiding it from view. When she moved it away she was completely healed. "Slade? I know you can hear me you cowardly worm. I do hope those robots have a warranty on them."

Cri laughs out loud making the other Titans shrink in fear. She turns towards the first robot, her eyes glowing the same ice blue color as they did when she was a phoenix, and she starts hacking it to pieces. The other robots move in to attack her but Cri was ready for them. She pointed the Dragon buster at them, and with extraordinary precession, shoots bolts of red energy at them, making large chunks of them melt.

Suddenly a few robots come out of nowhere and grab her. "Hi there, let me ask you something...can you swim?" Cri swings her body around and sends the robots flying into the river a good 50 feet away. "I guess not."

Cri's wraith blade retracts until only her arm is glowing with energy and she pulls out her bow and arrow set. "Target practice." She notches 3 arrows and lets the Dragon buster feed them with energy before firing them. The arrows hit the last 3 robots and explode on contact.

Cri put her bow and arrows back into her bag which hadn't been there a second ago. "That was so much fun!" The Titans just stared at her, their eyes as big as saucers. Cri looked around for what they were staring at and realized it was her. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

Soon after they all found themselves in the T-Car with Cyborg driving. It was strangely quiet throughout the entire drive to Titans Tower Cri had tried to start a conversation with Raven, whom she was sitting next to, and failed. She quickly gave up talking and just enjoyed the silence.

After the Titans finished cleaning up, Cri made them all a wonderful dinner, and soon after one by one, the Teen Titans went to bed. Soon the only 2 who were still up were Raven and Cri. Raven quickly decided to take advantage of the current situation and find out what was going on.

Cri noticed Raven stalking towards her and shrank into the couch. "Alright, SPILL!!!" Shouted Raven. "Who and what are you...really." Cri knew she couldn't lie to the dark sorceress. She sighed and let her head drop. "Fine I will tell you only if you promise to keep it a secret because if anyone else knew I would be hated..." Raven agreed only because she felt the same way about herself. "Well I'm very similar too you. And even if you didn't keep my secret I would keep yours." Raven stood there shocked that Cri knew she was half demon. Cri sighed deeply and continued. "Like you I'm half human but unlike your demon half my half requires a lot more self control than yours. For you see I'm a..."

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I'm so evil!!! You probably won't find out what she is until a lot later in the story so tough luck ha ha!


	7. Welcome the Dark Angel

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hi there everyone! Would you like to know why it took me SO very long to update? I have been lazy. Yup that's right, I just haven't felt like writing, and I'm sorry for that. I will really try harder to update more often so you guys have a story to read but in the meantime while you wait for new chapters, could you do me a favor and review? I also ask that you tell as many people as possible about this story and have them review that way I will be happy! But if your not encouraged enough to do so I will make a deal. The more people review, the faster I will update. How does that sound? And I will make the chapters longer and better too.

If you look at the disclaimer I added a few. I may add more throughout the fic.

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**Chapter 7 : Welcome the Dark Angel**

Cri was just about to finish her sentence when Robin walked in. "Hey shouldn't you two be in bed right about now? We have a very big day tomorrow." Cri took a glance at Raven who just shrugged. 'She can tell me later, I can wait.' Cri smiled, impressed with her patience because she herself couldn't wait 5 minutes in a theater for a movie to start without asking her neighbor at least 20 times if it's time for it to start. She watched Robin leave the room followed by Raven. Afterwards she went to her room for some well deserved sleep.

The following morning Starfire was woken, as she is every morning, by Beastboy's and Cyborg's, as Raven put it, pointless bickering about whether or not meat was better than tofu. "Awwww come on B," Cyborg yelled. "We all KNOW meat is better than tofu. It's full of protein that will make you strong." Beastboy rolled his eyes. "That's a bad excuse Cy." He shouted back, amazingly loud for one so small. "Soy has TONS of protein in it." They continued to argue until they went into the kitchen where Cri had just finished making them another huge breakfast.

"Morning sleepyheads! I do hope you're hungry!" Cri shouted cheerfully. Cyborg and Beastboy looked at each other and shrugged. They suddenly bolted to the table and started helping themselves to the food that was there arguing the entire time about who won the race to the table. A few minutes later everyone came in and started eating. This time Cri ate with them, destroying some of Ravens theories about what Cri really is, yet she still wondered why Cri ate almost only the meat and eggs when everything else was plainly just as good.

After everyone finished eating, Robin called everyone into the living room. "Today is a special day for all the Titans and of course Cri too. So I have decided that for her heroics in battle and the plain fact that Titans Tower needs a permanent good cook I would like to present you, Cri, with this communicator and the title of being the 6th Teen Titan." Cri's jaw dropped and she took the communicator with shaking fingers. "I...I..." Cri suddenly fainted from shock making all the Titans look at her strangely.

Cri soon came too from the sheer annoyance of people staring at her. She quickly sat up and looked at the communicator in her hand. "I can't believe it. I'm a Teen Titan! This calls for a celebration!!!" Cri jumps up and the Dragon Buster appears on her arm. "I'm gonna contact a bunch of my friends. Maybe Morrigan and Lillith...they really know how to help plan and throw a party and they also have a great taste in music..."

Robin sweatdrops and taps her on the shoulder after she lists about 10 others. "Cri maybe just invite one friend." She makes a pouty face and nods. "Fine then I guess I really do know just the right person." Raven raises one eyebrow secretly hoping its not someone who throws really loud parties that can ruin peoples eardrums. "And just who is this person?" She asks in her monotone voice. Cri just smiles widely. "That person is ME!" All the Titans sweatdrop and Raven just rolls her eyes at the stupid joke.

Soon the preparations for the party are over and all of the Titans are having a great time, excluding Raven who is just sitting on the far end of the couch reading. Every now and then Cri caught her glaring at them. 'I bet she hates the music and lights.' She thought to herself. 'That's completely understandable because I personally think the music is too loud myself.' Cri sighs softly and gazes out the window, catching a glimpse of a tall slender figure standing on one of the buildings. 'I really do hope this ends well and I don't have to hurt anyone. I would just hate myself if the society's fears are true.'

Slade sat in his hideout, quite frustrated that his robots had failed him so miserably yet again But he was surprised that it was not one of the Teen Titans, but one of their super powered friends, who had foiled his plans this time around. He seemed to have a gleam of amusement in his eye as he watched the tape of the fight over and over again. "Cri...I like that name. It has a very malevolent ring to it. She would most defiantly make the ideal apprentice..."

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I hope you enjoyed this rather large chunk. And if you know who and what Cri is don't tell anyone and ruin my plot.


	8. Brimstone

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hi it's me again...don't hurt me whimpers and hides behind a very small rock. I'm so sorry I haven't been updating, my dad has been on his deadline and I have been busy playing Fatal Frame and Soul Calibur 2. In other words, what little time I could have been on the computer I was playing video games...I BET I COULD BEAT YOU!!!! I'm also going to Hawaii on Wednesday, September 1st. I am just sooooooo excited about this.

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**Chapter 8 : Brimstone**

Cri continued to stare out the window until Cyborg came over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Cri tore her gaze from the star flecked sky and the city lights to look at the half robot. "Hey Cri, is there somthin' wrong? Maybe you would like to talk about it." he asks with a concerned look on his face. "I'm fine Cyborg I am just remembering something that I wish I could go back and change. Maybe even, if I could, do all over again..." Cyborg nodded and left her alone knowing that look of pain. It would most defiantly not be a good idea to try and get her to talk about it.

Cri turned back to the window and stood there watching for another 10 minutes until the figure on the roof disappeared. She sighed deeply and shook her head wishing she could enjoy the party a little more. She knew the party was for her but her heart just wasn't in it right now. The young girl closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the cool glass for a minute trying to clear her mind.

Cri turned around and scanned the room. She raised an eyebrow as she watched Beastboy try to do the limbo and fail miserably at it every time. Cri chuckled lightly to herself. 'I still don't see why Brimstone wants me here...still even if I still had to do it, it would have been a lot easier to keep an eye on my target if I could just do it from a distance. It wouldn't have brought back so many sad memories but noooooo that idiotic Red Dragon Army loves to get on my nerves. So they decided they just had to take one of their fancy little radar proof submarines and sink my ship with those new "drill torpedoes" humph, idiots.'

Raven looked towards Cri from where she was sitting. Her glazed eyes and seemingly uninterested expression just didn't seem to fit in with her personality and defiantly not the occasion. A cold chill ran up the empath's spine. She had the weirdest feeling that the girl was hiding something of great importance from the team. And when Raven had a weird feeling like this it was always right. Well almost always.

Raven hated invading others privacy, especially their final sanctuary, their mind, but Raven knew that it would probably be better if she did. She established a small telekinetic link with the strange new Titan and entered her mind. The second she had taken 2 steps she ran face first into a wall. Every mind wall "looks" different and Cri's could be described as a 20 foot high 5 foot thick reinforced stone with spikes and gargoyles lining the top.

The sorceress knew there was absolutely NO WAY she could get through to read her mind but just as she was exiting her mind a single thought escaped the barrier and Raven saw it was of a huge scorched and burning battlefield with a much younger looking Cri kneeling in the center of it all sobbing her heart out. In her arms was the charred body a dying man. And what Cri said would haunt her mind for the rest of the night. "Please...Please don't leave me...I need you daddy! I love you..."

Cri played the memory through her head one last time and looked around at all of her new friends. She was so happy and very surprised she was accepted into the Teen Titans. 'Beastboy you try so hard to be funny, yet you fail so badly its hard not feeling bad for you. Robin your so cool and confident...The perfect leader. Starfire, you may be naive but you know how to make someone feel welcomed.' All this crossed Cri's mind as she looked at each Titan in turn. 'Then of course there is Cyborg...Im sorry if it seems I don't like or trust you like friends should, but its so hard to talk to you...You remind me so very much of my father, Xenon. And how he died saving me. And last but not least Raven. You may be half demon but you isolate yourself even though your heart and soul are so amazingly pure and your intentions are true. What happened to you that makes you so scared to just tell someone about your feelings even if you don't have to feel them?'

As Cri's eyes stare at Raven, she looks up and her lavender eyes lock with Cri's ice blue ones. It was only for a few seconds but in that time span Raven could almost literally see all of the pain Cri must have gone through in her past. That one memory that revealed itself to her was not Cri's only pain filled moment. Raven quickly tore her gaze from Cri's, actually feeling sorry for the girl.

Raven laid back and tried to rest her eyes, but it was not the music that disturbed her every second, it was that one memory of Cri and her father. She started thinking about the memory, trying with all her might to find out why her highly trained mind couldn't block it out. Something about Cri, other than the fact that she was younger, was very different. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

Realization suddenly hit Raven. Cri's skin was paler and her eyes had a slight luminescence to them. Her ears were of course slightly pointed but now that Raven had a chance to study them she noticed they were not as prominent as an elf's. Now with new information Raven struggles to think what Cri could possibly be, but she didn't have much time to think. The nearby window, the one Cri was staring out of, shattered raining glass everywhere.

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I know it's not the best cliffhanger but it will just have to do for now cuz I'm having writers block. Please, when you review could you give me some suggestions for the next chapter? I promise I will credit you. DO NOT give Cri away or it will ruin my plot.


	9. The Woman in Red

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hi I'm back from Hawaii with chapter 9 right now and just to say to everyone this story is getting along great! I would like you guys that review every few chapters to review more often...it makes more people want to read it!

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**Chapter 9 : The Woman in Red**

Glass flew everywhere covering Cri and Beastboy in tiny stinging cuts. She quickly turned away to avoid having her eyes cut, while Beastboy turned into a turtle. Cyborg, who was also nearby, simply covered his face and head being protected by his metal body.

Raven cursed her own carelessness. She had accidentally let go of a few of her emotions while she was thinking and hadn't noticed until it was too late. She quickly got up and helped Cri out of the glass. "Are we under attack?" she said quickly getting into a fighting stance. Robin shook his head. "Don't worry this happens now and then. Ravens powers are fueled by her emotions and every now and then something breaks, it's no big deal."

Robin smiled warmly but Beastboy shook his head. "Ya dude, it's no big deal when Raven breaks things, unless you count that one time she blew up the gamestation!" Beastboy shot eye daggers at Raven who just smirked. "Who said that was an accident?"

Cri quickly grabbed Beastboy who had tried to lunge at Raven. She winced in pain, all of his struggling was making her cuts worse and her ribs, in the spot she was stabbed during the fight with Slade's robots, were still a little sore. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT RAVEN!?!" Cri knew she couldn't hold him much longer so she quickly made a decision.

Cri started softly chanting in Beastboy's ear and he quickly calmed down and actually fell asleep in her arms. She smirked, 'at least some of those incantation lessons I took paid off.' She quickly laid Beastboy on the couch, ignoring the stares of her teammates. Raven quickly scanned his mind. "You know incantations? That means you also know spells and how to do magic." Cri smiled widely. "Yes I do, and much more..."

Cyborg stared at her long and hard. "Magic isn't real, it's all a hoax. 'Cause if by some chance you could do real magic, you would have told us sooner, so why didn't you?" Cri smiled widely. "That's because you never asked you crazy tin can you."

Raven rolled her eyes. "What do you mean by saying you can do more than just cast spells?" Cri smiled and extended her arm so the palm was facing up. "Fireball!" An orb of fire the size of a softball appeared in her hand. "That is the Fireball spell, remember this is a spell. You have to speak words in order to use one." She banished the fireball in a small puff of smoke. She put her arm up again and, making a point that she had not said anything, made another. "I can control the elements and a little light and dark magic without the need for spells and incantations. I inherited it from...from my father."

Cri's face saddened as she said this. Raven put a hand on her shoulder and whispered something into her ear, making sure it was inaudible to the other titans. "At least you had the chance to love your father. It's hard to love someone who is always trying to kill you and destroy the world."

Cri smiled genuinely and nodded. "Thanks Raven but one question...how did you know my father died?" Raven managed to keep a straight face. "It was written all over your face Cri, I'm sorry." Cri was just about to speak when the alarm went off.

Robin quickly checked the computer. "There is an intruder on the roof, a very tall and female, and she is armed. Titans Go." Everyone quickly rushed to the roof and saw a slender woman dressed in a slightly revealing red and black leather leather top and some low cut pants. examining her fingernails. She had fire red hair and her green eyes glowed with a soft luminescence. She had seemed so tall because of her boots, they were at least 6 inches tall with a spiked heel. On her arms she wore gauntlets with 3 foot blades attached, similar to Cri's.

They all rushed at the woman but Cri stopped them in their tracks. "She isn't here to hurt you guys, she is here for me." Starfire glared at Cri. "We shall not let you face the strange woman all alone! We are your friends Cri and will not let you fight alone." The other Titans nodded their agreement. "But you guys don't get it." Cri said almost laughing. "She most defiantly would not try to attack and kill her one and only daughter!"

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YAY ANOTHER CLIFF HANGER!!!!!!! Well sort of anyway...... if you review I will give you a giant chocolate chip cookie!!! I would also like some guesses on who or what Cri really is...I want to laugh at your wrong answers! I'm just kidding, but if you DO know what she is don't guess. At least don't guess the right answer...It will just RUIN the plot for everyone else if you do that.


	10. A Deadly Mission

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hi it's me again, your not gonna believe this...in English class we are all having to write stories ok? And my teacher liked The Phoenix and the Black Bird SOOOOO much she assigned it to me!!! Too cool, huh? Well anyway we are getting near the end of my story...I have decided to use 13 chapters and that's it. It's a supernatural story so I thought 13 chapters would be very appropriate. 

note: For a pic of a Vraal, see my profile

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**Chapter 10 : A Deadly Mission**

The other Titans gaped at their teammate, and the woman on the roof smiled. "I was worried Cri, I knew you were all right after I got your e-mail but I just wanted to check up on you." Cri smiled, "well don't worry about me, I'm fine. I can take care of myself...You know I always pull through in a tight spot" The woman nodded.

"Oh I almost forgot, you are going to find some place to keep Spike..." Cri slapped herself. "I can't believe it, I forgot all about him." She turned to her friends. "Hey guys, is it ok if I keep my pet, Spike, here?" Beastboy started jumping up and down excitedly. "Ya dude! Titans Tower needs a pet!" Cyborg shrugged. "Y'all can keep him here as long as he's house trained." Raven glared at Cri. "Just keep him out of my room or else you may not _have_ a pet anymore." Starfire, like Beastboy, had started jumping up and down. "Glorious!!! I would be most in favor of having an animal." Robin nodded. "Then it's settled I will pick up some dog food in the morning."

Cri quickly looked strangely at Robin. "Spike isn't a dog...He isn't a cat either" Robin closed his mouth. 'I hate it when she reads my mind.' Cri smirked and Robin mentally slapped himself. A chopper quickly approached Titans Tower and through down a rope latter. "This is my ride" Cri's mother said. Suddenly this huge raptor like _thing _jumped out of the chopper and landed next to Cri. The woman quickly got onto the latter and the chopper flew away. "Cri," Raven said in a shaky voice "What is _that_?" "Oh, I'm sorry." Cri said quickly. "This is Spike, my Vraal."

"No, no way, not now not ever." Robin said as he paced back and forth across the living room floor. "A dog, fine. A cat, why not. But defiantly not THAT thing." Cri was sitting on the couch moping, and Spike was curled up in the middle of the room, watching Robin pace with its 4 yellow eyes. "Please Robin, he could help us fight crime. If the city knew he was helping us criminals will probably think twice about robbing the bank or something." Robin glared at Cri but could not argue with the truth in her words. After a moment he sighed and let his glare drop to the floor. "Fine Cri, you can keep him here. Just don't let him on the sofa understand?" Cri nodded excitedly and hugged Spike.

Cri quickly made dinner, and after a few hours of kicking Cyborg and Beastboy's butt on gamestation, easily setting a new record for "wins in a row." The Titans started to go to bed. Cri yawned. "Sorry guys, I'm getting tired. I'm gonna go to bed now." Cyborg and Beastboy nodded and continued trying to beat the pulp out of each other.

Raven couldn't sleep. The thought of Spike living in the tower had defiantly creeped her out. Every clue to what Cri could possibly be was on her mind. She continued to try and get some sleep for another few minutes knowing it was a pointless effort. She quickly decided to ask Cri once and for all. She levitated down the hall just to find that Cri had already gotten up and was heading to her room. Raven quickly caught up but Cri was already halfway through her door and it was closing. Raven sighed and was about to knock when she heard another voice.

Inside her room, Cri had grabbed her laptop computer and set had up an audio link with a mysterious man. "Have you gathered enough data yet Agent BloodCri?" he asked in a deep chilling voice. "Yes I think I have ShadowSythe. Tell Brimstone that Raven may be half demon but she is not a supernatural threat to the city. She meditates everyday and is literally an ice queen. Her emotions will defiantly not give the city any trouble." There was a slight pause and then ShadowSythe spoke up again. "The council says that because she does have emotions she IS a threat and you have been ordered to eliminate her as soon as possible..."

Raven couldn't believe what she was hearing. Cri was an enemy agent!!! Or was she? Cri had said something about a supernatural threat. The empath quickly realized that she probably was a threat to the city, and if Cri is a supernatural hunter she should know that hands down...so why was Cri defending her?

There was a long pause in the conversation. "ShadowSythe..." Cri's voice drifted off. "I refuse to assassinate Raven. I know defying orders could end up getting me killed but I refuse to kill Raven unless she looses control." There was a long pause. "I know this is against the councils wishes, and I know that it will be much harder if I do things my way, but I think Raven has saved enough lives to deserve a chance to live..." Cri's voice had started to shake and Raven now knew she was defiantly not an enemy. "Alright BloodCri we will let you off this time, but if the council gives you an order again, I expect you to follow it down to the letter. Is that understood?" Cri sighed. "Yes ShadowSythe I understand."

Raven felt her body relax. That had been close. She was defiantly glad now that Cri was on her side. Her relief didn't last long though. A loud crash of glass breaking and a scream woke her out of her dream world. The dark sorceress realized it came from Cri's room. She opened the door just in time to see Slade jumping out the now broken window with an unconscious Cri draped over one of his shoulders. Her arms were bound with a 4 way cable held together with an electric disk.

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Ok that's all for now. I can't believe there are only 3 more chapters left to write...I already have them planned out and I just need to write them. Considering the ending you will be worried if there will be a sequel or not...don't worry, there probably will be depending on if you want me to write a sequel.


	11. From Fire to Ashes Pt1

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Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Sorry it has taken me SO FRIGGEN LONG to update but I wanted my teacher to read my story and I wanted to leave her hanging when she finished reading what I had. (Evil laugh) So anyway this is chapter 11 of 13 ...I'm glad everyone liked my story and I want you guys to tell me if you want a sequel written to this because if you don't I probably wont write something this long ever again and just write oneshots...

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**Chapter 11 : From Fire to Ashes Pt.1**

Raven quickly ran down the hall shouting for the other Titans to wake up. Within a minute everyone was gathered in the living room with Raven practically yelling out the events that had taken place within the last few minutes. "Raven calm down," Robin said sternly. "Cri has a tracking beacon in her communicator we will find her." Cyborg looked skeptical. "Ya and Slade probably knows that too, and why are we trying to save someone who was sent here to kill Raven?" Raven glared darkly at him and a red glow began to bleed into her indigo eyes. "Because Cyborg," she hissed, her voice dripping with venom. "She is the ONLY person who has defended me before fully getting to know me instead of, say, shooting me with a sonic cannon because I 'seemed' evil." Cyborg backed off, his eyes wide with fear. Raven then turned and walked out of the room leaving the other Titans in a state of utter shock.

Raven quickly found Slade's hideout, an old abandoned warehouse near the docks, and landed on the roof. 'I partially regret leaving the other Titans behind but I'm sick of wasting time.' Raven thought grimly to herself. She morphed into her soul self, a huge black raven, and phased into the warehouse. She landed on the concrete floor and changed back immediately scanning the room for signs of Slade. She found none but she did find Cri strapped to a metal table with cables. Cri was obviously awake because she had turned to look at Raven. "A little help over here Raven?" Raven quickly ran over and cut the wires. "You can tear apart robots but you can't rip these wires...Now why is that?"

Cri sighed deeply and the air around her seemed to shimmer. She pulled a jet black cape made of silk out of thin air and tied it around her neck. Suddenly Raven was looking at a different person yet it was still Cri. Her ears had become pointed and her skin had paled slightly, her eyes seemed to shine with a soft luminescence making her look a lot like Raven. When she spoke her voice seemed smooth but was as cold as ice. "I couldn't break the ropes Raven, because if you stretch them steel panels will move aside and press the silver core against my skin. Raven I didn't tell you for fear of being rejected. I am a Dhampir, and the vampirec breed is both yellow and red."

All the clues Ran through Ravens head and they all added up. The Empath cursed herself for not seeing it sooner. Everything pointed to this, Cri was half vampire half human, and if she had both vampire breeds in her, her parents must have both been Dhapirs too otherwise a 2 way breed as a Dhampir would be impossible. One of her parents was the yellow-eyed breed, a master in hand to hand combat, strength, and speed. The other was the red-eyed breed, strong in magic, summoning, and outwitting their opponent. Cri's mom had green eyes and yellow is an element in making the color green so it is likely she inherited her fighting ability from her mother.

Raven was about to ask another question when Slade walked in. Cri immediately got into a fighting stance, a low growl emanating from her throat. Raven whirled around to face Slade, her hands and eyes glowing. The front door burst open and the rest of the Titans ran in ready for a fight. "Thought you might need some backup." Beastboy said with a spark in his eye. Slade didn't flinch for a second. Suddenly an electrified cage dropped on Beastboy, Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire. "Excellent, now I have the demonic daughter of Trigon, and the half vampire daughter of the assassin Rayne all to myself.

The Titans gaped at Raven and Cri. Cri turned to Raven, utterly shocked. "TRIGON?!? He doesn't mean Trigon the Terrible does he Raven?" The dark sorceress nodded in disgust. "If I'm not mistaken your mother is the one responsible for all those mutilated corpses with fangs we have been finding..." Cri sighed and shook her head. "Not all of them, I regret to say some of them were actually my doing...destroying supernatural threats and people who dig too deeply into stuff like that is my job, and not a very pleasant one at that."

Slade's laughter filled the warehouse echoing off the walls just to laugh at them again. "And that's exactly why I want you as my new apprentice Cri. You can be even more ruthless than I am..." Slade started laughing again but stopped when he heard someone else's laughter. Cri was laughing at him. "I may be a more ruthless fighter than you are Slade but there is one thing you forgot. My methods may not be approved by many people but I fight to protect people, the lives of mortals. Yes I will admit to drinking blood, yes I will admit that I have killed before, and yes I admit to being half vampire but I'm not a monster Slade. We are bound by our experiences not by our heritage, so the only monster here Slade, is you. And I have trained my whole life to kill monsters."

Cri just stood there smiling and watching Slade. Raven glanced back at her teammates who couldn't have been more shocked if they had been struck by lightning. She walked over to the door of the cage making them shrink back but Robin seemed to hold his ground. 'Here it comes,' thought Raven. 'Now everyone will turn against me and I'm going to have to find a new home.' She kept her head down as she broke the lock with her telekinetic powers letting them all out and then walked back to Cri who seemed to be having a staring contest with Slade.

"I'm ready when you are Slade." Said Cri, who then pretended to yawn and look at her watch. She smirked showing her fangs. They weren't long but were defiantly sharp. Raven could probably guess that they extended when she is about to bite something. "Come on Slade," hissed Cri. "Afraid that a little girl is gonna beat ya?" It was pretty obvious to Robin, a combat expert, that Cri was trying to trick Slade into making the first move, but that wasn't the question. The question was, would Slade let his ego get in the way of better judgment?

After a few tense moments Slade whipped out his bow staff and charged Cri with amazing, almost inhuman, speed. He swung his bow staff down at Cri and hit empty air. Cri grabbed his ankles from behind and started swinging him around. Cri threw him up into the air with force enough to send all 245 pound of Slade into the 50 foot ceiling and then some. Cri's cape shimmered and became a pair of black feathered wings whose tips touched the floor. There was a spike at the top of each of her wings giving her a look a bit like a predator about to strike a defenseless animal. She spread her wings and beat them down hard as she jumped catching Slade as soon as his body had peeled itself off of the ceiling. "Have we met before?" She asked with a smirk on her face. She once again threw Slade and this time he hit the far wall before sliding down into a dumpster.

Cri landed on the concrete floor, her wings creating enough wind to blow Raven and Robin's capes flapping. "I'm surprised he survived that throw." Cri said thoughtfully "I think I pulled a muscle in my arm..." Beastboy walked up to her a bit nervous. "What do you mean 'survived'? No one could have survived that!" He ended at a yell. "You killed him Cri, you killed him!!!" Cri raised an eyebrow at the changeling. "Then if you find some other explanation as to why I can still smell a heart pumping and sense brain activity in that dumpster I'm all ears." Beastboy backed off going a lighter shade of green. Apparently Cri being able to smell the blood someone heart pumps just is a little too much for him.

"Come on Slade, don't make me have to actually drag you out. Then again you could just stay in there. Garbage is all you really amount to." After about a minute of waiting Cri sighed and walked over to the dumpster. As she looked inside it, she was greeted with a devastating uppercut courtesy of Slade's armored fist. He smirked as he heard a loud crack signifying that he had broken her jaw.

Cri fell to the ground a few feet away. She put a hand to her chin and moved her jawbone slightly. Slade heard a small crackling sound and then there was silence. "I can heal broken bones Slade, but I thought you knew that already." By now Slade was furious, Cri had outsmarted him at every turn and when he finally did manage to hurt her, she only healed herself and shrugged it off as of it were nothing. He had never faced an opponent anything like her before.

Slade quickly climbed out of the dumpster only to be pinned against the far wall with Cri's hand around his throat. "Do you have some sort of identity crisis Slade? Why do you always wear that mask? Do you think that it will protect you?" Cri smirked wickedly. "Lets see the face behind the mask, shall we?" With those last words Cri grabbed the front of the metal mask, her nails digging into the metal as if it were putty, and ripped the mask clean off of his face.

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WARNING!!! The next chapter will tell you what Slade looks like and if you don't believe me just look inside the original Teen Titans comics to confirm my story. See you in chapter 12. Oh and this is the longest chapter I have written so far. Yay for me!!!


	12. From Fire to Ashes Pt2

Disclaimer – I do not own Teen Titans, Eragon, BloodRayne, Deltora Quest, Soul Reaver, Dark Stalkers, The Legend of Dragoon, or any of the other things that I took little tidbits from.

Hey everyone I'm back from my lazy break from this story!!! (Actually I have been working on my hand made Raven costume for Halloween) Sorry bout waiting so long to update but I haven't been getting any reviews so I'm not that motivated. The only reviews I have gotten were some mean comments from an anonymous Dark Xeno...I sent an email to the registered Dark Xeno and it's a different person so if you are reading this I just want to say that if you thought my story was bad just leave 1 review instead of one for every chapter. And if you don't like it, DON'T READ IT!!! I hope you trip over your own shoelaces and a rusty nail goes through your eye! Hope everyone else enjoys the longest chapter yet.

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**Chapter 12 : From Fire to Ashes Pt.2**

The ripped metal of Slade's mask dropped to the ground as his face was revealed to the world. He looked to be in his 40s or 50s with white hair, a white goatee, and a patch over his right eye. Cri stared at him for a moment and chuckled lightly to herself. "Hey Robin," she shouted over her shoulder. "All this time you were being beaten by an old man!" Cri dropped him onto the concrete floor and dropped what was left of his mask on his lap. "No wonder you're so weak."

Cri turned and walked away laughing, leaving Slade where he lay. Seething with anger he slowly got to his feet. "Yes Cri, I am older than one would think," he growled with a surprisingly confident air around him. Cri stopped and turned back to him, surprised by his confidence. "But you do forget why I captured you in the first place." Cri smirked, "you wanted me as your apprentice and when you couldn't sway me you wanted too..." Cri's smile disappeared and her eyes widened. She took a few steps back. "No...You didn't. That's impossible."

Slade smiled and sprinted to the door he first came out of. Cri was faster, but Slade was much closer. She ran headlong into the door the second it closed, her steel spiked boots unable to get enough traction to stop. Apparently the section of concrete around the door had been plated in metal. The other Titans ran to her to see if she was ok, but it was Raven who helped her up. Apparently the other Titans were still a little wary of Cri.

Cri quickly got up, momentarily dazed and suddenly started punching the door leaving dents. "We have to stop Slade," she shouted. Raven took a few large steps back. She didn't have to be an empath to recognize just how scared Cri was. She knew that if Cri was this scared something horrible was defiantly going to happen.

Robin ran to the door holding an explosive disk. "Get back," he ordered. Cri backed away from the door and Robin stuck the disk on. He and the other Titians, save for Cri, hid behind some boxes as the disk exploded making the door fly inward. Cri rushed in knowing it was too late.

Slade was just putting down a large syringe, his finger over a spot right under his chin. "Although every vampire breed has a 'red yellow' system Cri, you are a red yellow of the rarest breed. The dark blooded breed. I was able to easily twist your DNA eliminating your weaknesses and injected it into my own body." Cri crossed her arms and leaned on the door. "Perhaps you will have my strength and abilities Slade but the transformation will take at least 10 minutes and I will beat you before then." Slade nodded. "Yes it would have taken 10 minutes...If I had actually drank the blood. You see if I inject it into my body it will take half the time and if I inject it into my neck it goes straight to my brain, it will take even less time."

Cri cursed under her breath and her right arm pulsed with red energy, tinged with black. "I will still beat you Slade, because I have a secret." Slade laughed insanely and Cri glanced fangs. He was changing way too fast and didn't seem to be experiencing any pain. The energy around Cri's arm seemed to drip down into a sword. "What can you possibly do to me Cri?" Slade hissed. "You're much smaller than I am and now that my strength is that of yours plus what I had before you have no chance!" Cri smirked and bowed her head so he couldn't see her eyes. "No Slade I do have something. You would grind my face into the concrete before I could focus enough to use magic so I will use something that would take you about a month to figure out how to activate and use...I will use sangue furia."

4 of the other, forgotten, Titans stood near the doorway watching them. "Dude, why doesn't Cri just pound Slade? And what the heck is san whatchamacallit?" Starfire nodded in agreement.

"Sangue furia literally means blood rage in Italian." Everyone jumped and turned around to see Raven standing there, her indigo eyes wide. "Blood rage is sort of a berserker mode for vampires. It is dangerous because it drains their vitality, removes all defensive abilities temporarily, and they loose all awareness of the things around them. It's also very useful in a tight spot because it is very hard to hurt them, their strength can double or even triple, and they get a major speed advantage."

Cri looked up at Slade, her once ice blue eyes were now glowing blood red and small lightning bolts made of pure black energy shot off of the Dragon Buster and dissipated in the air. Her entire body seemed to have a faint red outline. The energy radiating off of her body made Slade and even the Titans take a step back.

Cri smirked. "So Slade..." She said, her voice was doubled, a mix of her normal voice and some other one that was filled with hate and lust. "Are you ready? I haven't had to use my blood rage in a very long time so I hope you can at least put up a good fight." Cri laughed like a maniac making the Titans take another few steps back.

"Red has wanted a good fight for ages." Cri hissed her voice becoming less doubled and more of the new one. "Red is what I call my vampire half while I call my human half blue...I base this on the color of my eyes, and right now I'm all red."

Raven walked up and stood next to Cri. "This is my fight too." She said, eyes glowing black. "I have been rejected more times than I can count and my secret revealed will not help what little reputation I have. Cri nodded, still smiling insanely. "If you can't keep up with me, then just stay out of my way."

Cri charged at Slade, her speed was easily double of Slade's new already inhuman speed. She rammed her knee into his stomach without him even realizing what was happening. She brought her elbow down on the back of his neck and he flipped over her knee. Slade landed on his hands and knees and got up rubbing the back of his neck.

Slade crossed his arms and laughed out loud. Throwing his head back still only half believing just how much his strength and endurance had been enhaced. "If that's how strong you really are then this is going to be easier than I thought."

Cri suddenly rushed forward and stuck the entire wraith blade and her fist right through the lower part of his rib cage. "Am I really that weak?" She hissed in his ear. She ripped the blade out of his chest letting him collapse, his wound already beginning to heal.

At this point Raven had gone to a corner of the room to stay out of the way. She knew that Cri was way too fast for her. She just didn't know by how much, until now of course. The Empath watched with growing awe how Cri would land punch after kick on Slade and he couldn't lay a finger on her. This fight wouldn't last much longer.

Cri was definitely stronger than Slade but her red aura had already started to fade and, blow by blow, she was slowing down. She had driven him to the back of the room, or was it Slade leading Cri to the back of the room? By the time the demoness had realized what was happening it was too late. Slade had led Cri into a trap. He grabbed a length of chain rolled up onto a strange metal carrier with a handle on each end. The starting link had a wicked looking silver spike on the end that turns into a claw when fired out of a tube on its top.

Slade fired at Cri and the spike went right through the center of her chest. The spike's sides flipped up to make something like a 3 pronged grappling hook. The chain quickly retracted so the chain carrier was pressing against her chest, the hook was digging into her back. She grabbed onto the chain carrier, coughing up large amounts of blood, and fell onto her side twitching. Her eyes had already turned blue again and their luminescence was already fading.

Raven ran to Cri's side, the other Titans not far behind. Slade laughed insanely when Raven tried to remove the chain. It seemed to be made out of something that repelled telekinesis and was too strong for her or even Cyborg to break. Raven looked up at Slade and their eyes locked, the look of cold loathing she gave him could freeze over hell. Starfire had started crying, and all of Cyborg's muscles were tense. Robin's look of hate could probably kill Slade if he was still mortal and Beastboy had turned into a cat and had put one of his paws on Cri's shoulder.

"Raven," Cri said weakly. Raven quickly looked down at Cri. Her eyes were unfocused and glazed with pain. "Take this, it will help." Cri held up a small orb of red energy crackling with black lightning. "Keep him safe for me and kick Slade's butt into next week." Raven touched the orb and it turned from red with black lightning to an indigo blue. The black lighting turned white and it wound itself around her right arm and dripped down into an energy sword. Cri had given Raven her wraith blade, The Dragon Buster.

Raven didn't have long to marvel at the gift. The second the Dragon Buster had fully attached itself to her she felt her emotions slipping out of control. Rage, Hate, and Righteousness were rising up above all others, and taking complete control. She vaguely realized that the wraith blade wanted revenge against Slade for killing the one it was once bound to.

Raven lowered her head, desperately trying to suppress her emotions. What really scared her was that it was her anger, not her father's that was making her want to kill Slade. All the wraith blade had done was release if for her. The Empath now regretted ever agreeing to take it from Cri.

Raven felt her eyebrows split as her body was switching from human to demon form. She grabbed her hood and flipped it up before anyone saw. "Get out of the room," she ordered, motioning for the Titans to clear out. Robin noted the change in voice and hurriedly ushered the Titans into a corner of the room, dragging the barley conscious Cri after him.

Raven stood facing Slade, her hood still shadowing her face. She no longer had any fear about loosing control. Righteousness would keep her from hurting her friends. Of this she was sure of. "So Slade," she hissed, looking up and letting Slade see her eyes. She had 4 and they were all pulsing fiery red. "Are you ready to face the wrath of the daughter of Trigon the Terrible?"

Cri could barley see, but she vowed to live long enough to see Raven tear Slade into little pieces. She was amazed at how much Raven's power increased when she got angry. 'This is why Brimstone wanted her dead,' she thought as Raven shot up 20 feet. She was only vaguely aware of the other Titans around her, telling her to hold on.

Tentacles made of black telekinetic energy snaked out from under Raven's cloak and wrapped themselves around Slade's wrists, ankles, torso, and neck, their icy temperature burning his skin. She dragged him to the ground and started pulling him towards her cloak. All the demoness could do was laugh

Slade screamed, pain shooting through his body. He started screaming for mercy as the tentacles electrocuted him. "Mercy?" Raven asked, chuckling sadistically to herself. "You don't DESERVE mercy! You killed the only one who ever understood me and accepted me for who I am!" She kept electrocuting Slade as she dragged him under her cloak. Slade's screams slowly became softer until they disappeared completely.

Cri saw Raven shrink down to her normal 5'5 indigo eyed self. She ran over to her. Cri could barely keep her eyes open and she didn't even bother trying to cough up the blood that was now filling her punctured lungs. It would just prolong the burning feeling of the silver chain in her chest. She looked up at Raven only seeing shadows. With great effort she took off a pouch on her belt and rolled it to her. "Contact Xenon…My father." She took a shallow breath and continued. "Ask about the legend of the phoenix." Cri then closed her eyes and moved no more.

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I'm so mean to leave you on another cliffhanger like that but thats just to keep you intrested in the story. The next and last chapter is "A Nest of Burning Cinnamon" and I hope you all like it. I also need people to tell me if they want a sequil or not. I will be looking forward to your reviews. 


	13. A Nest of Burning Cinnamon

Sorry for taking SO FRIGGEN LONG TO UPDATE!!!! Remember this is the LAST CHAPTER PEOPLE!!!! I need EVERYONE to vote and tell me whether I should write a sequel or not. So far I only have one vote for a sequel and only one person has voted. I need at least 5 more votes for yes to write a sequel. I hope you have enjoyed The Phoenix and the Black Bird and if you would like to use Cri in any of your stories feel free too, but tell me first so I can read it and maybe help you with her personality. Samuristar and I are co-writing a story called Merlina vs. a Dark Light with Cri in it so check that out if you want too. It's going to be very slow updating though.

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**Chapter 13 : A Nest of Burning Cinnamon**

Cri was dead; her heroism had cost her her life. Starfire was crying. Robin was trying to comfort her. Beastboy had turned himself into a cat and was curled up on Cri's lap, making a soft whimpering sound. Cybog just stood there, numb with shock and grief. And then there was Raven. She had her hood pulled up as far as it would go. Shadows hid her entire face from the eyes of the world. Cri's words kept echoing through her head: 'We are bound by our experiences, not by our heritage…' Her right arm pulsed blue as the Dragon Buster felt her pain. It...seemed to comfort her, and she smiled. A rare thing on any occasion, an almost impossible feat at the current time.

Raven bent over and picked up the bag Cri had dropped. It was knotted tightly, bound with a strip of leather. Sewn, or maybe burned, onto the 'front' of the bag was a small teardrop of decorative golden topaz. Its core was cold ice blue and its blue color seemed unaffected by the topaz covering it. The stone seemed to be only slightly larger than her chakra gem. Heat seeped through the thick leather as she searched for the knot to untie it. Her hand brushed up against the stone, deeply burning her skin. The empath quickly pulled her hand away and realized, in much dismay, that the knot was under the golden ornament. She gave up trying to open it manually. When she did try to use telekinesis, the leather string resisted and didn't open. It seemed that the bag was resistant to any type of non-mortal ability. She sighed and slipped the leather loop onto one of the thinner parts of her belt. She would figure it out when they got back to the tower.

Cyborg picked up Cri's limp body, letting Beastboy side to the floor, and started walking to the exit. He and Cri never really talked and got to know each other like he did his other teammates, but he felt a connection to her, like brother and sister. Even after he found out her dark secret and had it conflict with his own beliefs and religion.

Starfire's home planet, Tameran, had once had beings similar to vampires, but they were hunted to extinction long ago. She had been taught that it was wrong to drink the blood of another, therefore making the creatures evil. She knew Cri was a little strange and eccentric, maybe even a little crazy, but never evil.

Beastboy didn't even bother morphing back from his cat form. He was too depressed over not only Cri's death and the new 'not human' information about Raven. No, it went a lot deeper than that. He had had a bit of a crush on the dark sorceress ever since she joined the team, and he has always had a thing for blondes. Especially since Cri reminded him so very much of Terra, and how he had failed to save either of them.

Robin didn't know what to think. On one hand, a teammate gave her life and inspired another to win the fight. On the other, she was an assassin dhampir and the one who had stopped Slade, Raven, had ended up killing him. Another problem was that on one hand Raven was a demon, but should she be made to leave the Titans because of it or did her good deeds outweigh that fact? He just couldn't accept the depth of the new information and make a proper decision yet.

Raven followed them without a word, taking one last glance at where Slade should have been laying. The Dragon Buster had sent him to another dimension, but which of the infinite dimensions out there she did not know. He probably didn't survive the trip because of how much life force she had drained out of him, and even if he had survived, god knows what _things_ were there, waiting to tear him to pieces.

The Titans stood outside the T-car, not really wanting to go in and have to sit still for the long drive back to the tower. Raven sighed, exhausted from the day and using her demon form. She had forgotten how taxing it was, for the only other time she had ever used it was against Terra. Now she had to teleport them all _and_ the car back to the tower. She focused on her soul self and managed to teleport them all back to the tower's garage and then herself to the sanctuary of her own room.

Cyborg grimly began to climb the stairs to the living room and then rode the elevator to Cri's room, where he laid the young dhampir on the silk covers of her bed. He slowly got up and left the room, looking back only once at the girl he had come to be such good friends with.

Inside her room, Raven was trying to open the bag without burning all the skin off of her fingers. She had already tried cutting and breaking the leather strap and bag, but it didn't seem to do any good. She was nowhere near ready to give up though, and her perseverance did pay off. After almost 4 hours of working and covering her hands in first and second degree burns, she managed to remove the decorative stone and get to the knot.

She quickly untied the leather strap and turned the bag upsidedown. A large oval of gold topaz fell out into Raven's hand. She looked at it and felt her anger rising. 'This is it? A large topaz? These things can't even hold spells correctly and are only good for making jewelry!' She stared at the stone for a long moment and threw it onto the floor. She mumbled angrily to herself, "I can't believe that such a horrible stone like that could help me contact Xenon."

As soon as Raven spoke Xenon's name, the topaz began to glow, and a biting cold started creeping forward from the topaz and spreading throughout the entire tower. This was unfortunate for Beastboy, who had decided to take a hot bath and was suddenly frozen in the tub. Cyborg quickly tracked the temperature drop to Raven's room. He, Starfire, and Robin ran into the room and were immediately shocked by what they saw.

A man floated in the middle of the room. He looked to be in his mid twenties. His body was of medium build, and he was clothed in a white robe. His hair was short, and its color was that of sunshine mixed with white ash. His eyes were a cold, but not piercing, ice blue. He wore a warm smile that could melt even the coldest, hardest heart. His most distinctive feature should have been his eyes, but it was the fact that he seemed to be glowing and his body was transparent.

He landed on the ground right behind the still glowing topaz. Beastboy, who had finally freed himself, ran in and was stopped in his tracks by the sight of the apparition. "You must be Xenon." Raven breathed. The man's smile widened a bit and he nodded. "Please, Xenon, could you tell us about the Legend of the Phoenix?" He seemed thoughtful for a moment and then spoke. His voice was like bells ringing. "The Legend of the Phoenix," he said. "Was an ancient legend of magic and power that is often told as a bedtime story. The legend goes, that if one has the power of fire and the eye stone of a great phoenix, with a little help of one who is corrupted, it will let them revive after death at will. The phoenix stone must be placed on the chakra of the one with the power of fire. The stone's tapered sharp end must point to the fire one's hair. The corrupted one must prick their finger on the edge, and a drop of their blood be put in the middle of the stone. The one with the power of fire and the stone will then become one, and the corrupted one will be purified. That is the Legend of the Phoenix…But be warned: the phoenix stone must be on the fire one's head with the droplet on it before midnight of the first day of their death. If it isn't, then the ritual will fail, and the phoenix stone will turn to dust. The ritual will end once the clock strikes 12 times. And if anyone else other than the corrupted one is in the room at the time, they will be killed."

Raven looked back at the other Titans nervously. "Cyborg," she inquired. "What time is it?" Cyborg checked his internal clock. "Almost 11:56 Raven, and if your thinking this might revive Cri, then you're probably wrong. She never said anything about having the power of fire." Raven glared daggers at him. "We have to try! Xenon, where can we find a phoenix stone, and what do you mean by corrupted blood?" Xenon smiled. "The phoenix stone's holy and fire power will burn the flesh of one whose blood is corrupted enough for the ritual. And if you would like a clue to their whereabouts, they are both in this building." Then, without a word, Xenon faded from the room, and the topaz dimmed and stopped glowing altogether.

Robin began barking orders to the Titans where to start searching. Everyone ran out of the room to begin the search, everyone but Raven and Robin. Robin was telling Raven where to search but she didn't seem t respond at all. Even after he yelled at her she did not move. "I'm not searching," she said in a low voice. She lifted her burned hands out from under her cloak. "I already know where and who and what I must now do."

Raven picked up the bag and used it like a glove to pick up the phoenix stone. She ran out of the room before Robin could say anything else. She raced down the hall and into Cri's room, almost tripping over Beastboy on the way. She laid the stone on Cri's head and pricked her finger on the stone's sharp edge. Now it was time to see if Cri was the one with the power of fire. The demoness was unsure if Cri was really the one. She did have a phoenix soul self but never said anything about having power over fire, but Raven had to try.

She let a single drop of her blood fall on the stone. She held her breath and a few light bulbs exploded from her tension. The phoenix stone just sat there, the droplet of her blood sitting on the middle of the stone.

As the clock struck 12, Raven almost admitted defeat when she noticed the phoenix stone was glowing. She ran to the intercom and pressed the talk button. "Everyone stay out of Cri's room tonight…I have found all the necessary items and tried the ritual. We shall see in the morning if the Legend of the Phoenix is true." She turned around and watched as the phoenix stone grew brighter and brighter. Cri's body began to levitate off the bed, and the distinct smell of burning cinnamon and cedar wood filled the room. As the clock chimed for the 6th time, Raven felt an intense wave of pure heat hit her and blast her back against the wall. She hit her head on the metal intercom box, and knew no more.

The next morning the Titans dragged themselves out of bed and, out of habit, began walking to the kitchen. Suddenly Robin froze and started running to Cri's room. The others, who also just remembered because of the boy wonder's behavior, followed him.

When Robin was about halfway there, the other Titans in hot pursuit, he ran headlong into Raven who was peacefully reading Ann Rice's "Queen of the Damned" and was being followed by Spike. She and he were walking to the kitchen for some breakfast. She fell just as she was getting to the good part, dropped her book, and lost her page. She quickly pushed Robin off and glared daggers at him, but that wasn't what caught the teen wonder's attention. "Ummmm Raven?" he asked. "I know its not any of my business but how did you get that huge bump on your head, and why are you wearing white?" She bent down and picked up her book. "You may find out later today but for now lets have some breakfast." The empath walked off without another word, Spike close behind. The rest of the Titans gave Spike a wide birth.

After breakfast Raven explained how the ritual seemed to work and how she was knocked out from the wave of heat. She could not explain, however, how Cri still seemed dead when she woke up the next morning and how her cloak changed from black and blue to white. The Titans also discussed what to do about Raven and Cri, if she woke up. This went on for most of the day, only breaking for saving the city from Doctor Light, then resumed over dinner.

As the Titans were finishing a dinner of Chinese takeout Beastboy pricked up his ears. "Dudes, be quiet for a minute ok? I hear someone coming down the hall. Their footsteps kinda sound like your shoes Robin, only the metallic clang comes first as if the metal were on the heel not the toe. And whoever it is they are limping badly, probably using the wall for support."

All eyes, including Spike's, turned to the door. Cyborg readied his arm cannon and Robin pulled out an explosive disk. Starfire's eyes were wide with fright. Beastboy was biting his nails. Raven seemed very relaxed. "Calm down it's just our own little fire girl." Robin turned to her. "What do you mean Ra-" He was cut off as the door opened and Cri walked into the room, very pale and weak but alive. The only thing that seemed to be different about her was the strange yellow and blue charka gem and that her eyes seemed to, not shine but actually burn with the fires of life. "What's wrong you guys? Aren't you glad to see me?

Starfire was the first to break the silence. She squealed in delight and started running to Cri. "Friend Cri! You are unharmed!!!" Cri's eyes widened and she braced herself for the bone crushing hug she knew was coming. Luckily for her, Spike had gotten to her first and started licking her face, making the hyper alien skid to a halt. Raven quickly spoke up before Starfire remembered that Spike was Cri's pet and would not harm her. "Starfire, please don't hug Cri. She is very weak and still needs rest."

Cri stumbled into the room and grabbed a chair before she fell. "I'm ok," she said rather quickly when she saw the other Titans halfway out of their chairs. "I will feel better after I have had something to eat…" She scanned the table. "There isn't anything left, is there?" she asked chuckling softly. "Sorry Cri," Cyborg said sheepishly. "If I had known you were going to be…well…coming back from the dead, I would have ordered more." Cri looked up at him and shrugged. "It's okay I guess…I'm just gonna have to find something else to eat." Her eyes strayed to Robin's neck and she licked one of her fangs. 'No! Don't even think about it girl. You are NOT feeding off of Robin no matter how hungry you are.'

Cri shook her head as she sank into the chair and Cyborg walked up to her. "What can I get ya?" Cri smiled. It had been a long time since someone had served her. "Steak, rare to medium-rare and anything else you have…and Beastboy if you're going to make tofu at least use the recipe on the refrigerator. It's the only one I like."

30 minutes and 4 steaks, 5 eggs, and 2 blocks of tofu later Cri was looking a lot better. She was less pale and her eyes and chakra gem were shining brightly. She got up and stretched her muscles. "I feel sooooooo much better! Thanks you guys, although a large glass of O would have been nice with it." Cri eyed Beastboy and Robin's necks. Beastboy shrank back and Robin covered his neck. Cyborg rolled his eyes secretly thankful he didn't have much blood in his system. Starfire just sat there, wondering why her friends were acting so strange, and Raven just rolled her eyes and continued reading because she just didn't care. "Oh come on you guys," Cri said laughing. "I'm just messing with your heads. I would never really bite any of you. That's just plain mean. Now if you were willing on the other hand, that's a whole nuther story." Cri smiled at them, showing her fangs making them shrink back more.

Cri suddenly stopped picking on Robin and Beastboy and snapped her fingers. "I almost forgot!" She grabbed Raven and pulled her out of her chair. "Hold up your right hand." Raven, wondering why the whole time, did as she was told and Cri put her hand against Raven's. Raven felt an electric jolt and the Dragon Buster wove itself back around Cri's arm. It was with its master once again. Cri flexed her arm and the Dragon Buster shimmered and glowed brighter. She smiled as she watched the energy dance around her arm.

Robin cleared his thought. "Cri we are all happy that you are back and still alive but there is the matter of you being a dhampir we have to discuss. The smile on Cri's face faded and her ears sank a little, much like Beastboy's when he is sad. "Oh," she said, a sad hopelessness was creeping into her voice. "I understand I guess I will go get my stuff…" Cri walked off hunched over a little, distress written all over her face. Robin grabbed her shoulder to keep her from going. "I don't think you understand Cri. The Titans and I have been talking about it and we think you should stay." Cri was still for a moment then she suddenly whirled around and gave Robin a bone crushing hug that would make Starfire proud. "Thanks Robin! I know there are gonna be some rules, but I promise I won't let you down!"

Cri didn't realize Robin couldn't breathe until he started to turn blue, in which case she promptly let him go. "Sorry Robin, I guess I don't know my own strength." Robin got up gasping for breath. "It's ok Cri…Starfire does that all the time." Upon hearing this, Starfire seemed to blush a little. "Ok Robin what are the rules you have for me." Cri pulls a pencil and notebook out from behind her back, basically proving that nothing, even pulling things out of nowhere, is physically impossible.

Robin stared at Cri for a moment then started talking. "Ok rule one: no biting your teammates." Cri rolled her eyes. "I'm not that dumb Robin, I know right from wrong." Robin glared at her and continued. "Rule two: no bringing anything, including stories, inside the tower that would probably make us lose our lunch." Cri nodded telling him to go on. "Rule three: no leaving weapons on the sofa, we don't want any accidents." Cri giggled softly. "We don't?" she inquired. Robin shivered and went on. "Rule four: try to keep the fact that you're a dhampir low profile. We want people to trust the Titans. Same goes for you Raven." Raven rolled her eyes. "Oh yes I will tell everyone. Puh-lease Robin, it's not like I'm going to advertise it to the public." Robin ignored the comment and continued. "And finally rule five: do not bring any of your vampire, or whatever, friends over that would do any of the above. Is that clear Cri?" Cri nodded, smiling widely.

Beastboy suddenly ran up to the team. "You guys, we have been so occupied with crime fighting and Cri that we forgot all about Halloween!" Cri slapped her forehead and Spike walked over to her to see what was the matter with his owner. "I can't believe I forgot! Halloween is my favorite holiday!" Cyborg twiddled nervously, and Robin hit his head on the wall. "I can't believe I forgot to plan!" Cri thought for a moment and used telepathy to send a quick message to Raven, which she quickly sent back an approval reply to. "I have an idea everyone," she said grinning malevolently. "Lets turn Titans Tower into a haunted house! And, for 50 cents a person, let civilians tour the place and get a scare in every room!" Cyborg, Beastboy, and Starfire cheered but Robin opened his mouth to object. "We don't need to do our rooms Robin, we can keep that private. And yes I know about breaking rule #4, but I think this may prove to give me some positive points with the public." Robin mentally slapped himself. He hated it when his mind was read.

-------------------(For the Halloween story see 'Haunted Tower,' coming soon to a website near you)----------------------

After an exhausting Halloween the Titans are ready for some peace, quiet, and some serious R&R...And they had it. That is, until November 17th. "BEASTBOY!!!" Cri bolted out of bed ready for action when she realized it was just Cyborg yelling at Beastboy. She sighed and dropped her arms, knowing it was a pointless attempt to sleep with Cyborg's loud arguing vs. her sensitive hearing. She quickly (5.7 seconds) showered and got dressed, whistling for Spike on her way out.

Cri quickly walked down the hall. No matter how good of a friend Cyborg was, he needed a lesson in manners. She rounded a corner and was just about to give him a piece of her mind, and maybe even her fist, when she met a shocking sight. Cyborg stood there, fuming, covered in head to toe in tofu. Cri immediately forgot that she was supposed to be angry at him and ran to his side. "I will handle this ok Cy? Your yelling woke me up but I have found that it is more effective to treat the cause and not the effect of any problem." Cyborg looked at her, thoroughly confused. Cri sighed, "here is what I said made simple. I woke up cuz you yelled. You yelled because Beastboy dumped tofu on you. I'm gonna beat up Beastboy because it's technically his fault for you waking me up, is that clear?" Cyborg nods. "Sorry about waking ya'll up Cri. I'm gonna go clean up and will be down for breakfast in a bit." Cri started looking for Beastboy and softly whispered to herself. "I'm gonna KILL that little grass stain for not letting me sleep in, on my birthday of all days!" Little did Cri know that Cyborg's ultrasonic hearing had picked that up.

After beating the pulp out of Beastboy and a good breakfast, Cri was starting to feel a lot better. Raven had managed to get in contact with Morrigan and was planning on seeing what the Dark Realm was like. Cri was excited about going with Raven and seeing all her friends again, The Dark Stalkers.

Raven and Cri were standing in the living room getting ready to leave. The other Titans were standing a few paces back were saying goodbye. "We will be back before dinner but you guys are gonna have to make your own lunch ok?" Cri said with a smile. The boys nodded and Starfire piped up happily. "Yes, I will take your place and cook up many different types of earthly foo- mmmpphhhh" Starfire was cut off by Robin's hand. The thought of Starfire cooking lunch had put him into panic mode and it was the only thing he thought of doing. He quickly mouthed to Cri 'you better hurry back' and waved goodbye with his free hand. "Bye you guys, hope you can survive a few hours without us." Cri made an interdimensional portal and, after shoving Raven through, went through herself.

Raven and Cri arrived in a huge room. Its walls were made of a very hard, polished, dark wood giving the illusion that the room was much darker than it really was. Its floor was made of marble slabs. The marble's edges were put together so tightly and with so much precision that the slabs seemed not to be many but one. The patterns on the marble also added to this illusion, for the black lines that snaked across the stone like bolts of lightning were lined up perfectly which each other. The rafter beams in the astonishingly high ceiling were interlaced with dusty white cobwebs, giving the room an ancient look. All of the windows were made of beautifully stained glass depicting scenes of gory battles between humans and demons; cast a bloody light around the room. At one end of the room there was a stage made of a lighter wood. Hanging from the somewhat lower ceiling above the stage were deep crimson curtains made of a heavy, very strong, material that resembled silk. The bar, at the opposite end of the room, was made of, what appeared to be, solid black obsidian, polished to perfection. The many round tables that dotted the room were made of a lighter, more supple, polished wood and had a black lace table cloth. In the center of each table was a deep blue candle giving off a soft scent. This, save for the windows, was the only light. If not for the room's occupants being so strange, it would have been one heck of a 'stop and stare' statement.

The occupants of the room, who were filling about ¾ of the floor's surface area included a werewolf, a zombie, some form of cat creature, a mummy, a vampire and anything else you could probably think of. Morrigan and Lilith were there too, and they seemed to be talking to a little girl who resembled little red riding hood…with a basket full of deadly weapons.

Cri jogged up to 'Little Red Riding Hood', leaving Raven behind. Cri tapped the red cloaked girl on the shoulder to get her attention. "As soon as you're done talking to the Succubi sisters, I would like a word with them, ok?" The girl nodded and turned back to her conversation. Cri sat on the stage, watching the conversation. After about 2 minutes, the red cloaked girl skipped away, having traded a shotgun and 2 grenades for some hellfire MAC 10 ammo.

Cri whispered something in Morrigan's ear and she perked up slightly surprised. She shooed the guitar playing zombie off stage and grabbed the mic. "Listen up everyone!" The talking in the room slowly died down. "I would like you all to meet one of Cri's best friends, and the daughter of the demon Trigon, Metrion Roth!" The spotlight fell on Raven and she instinctively pulled up her hood, trying to hide her face from the light and the eyes of the spectators.

The entire room was silent for what seemed like an eternity. The room was suddenly filled with whispers and fleeting glances and the teenage half demon. Morrigan cleared her thought loudly and the whispers died down. "She and our dhampiric friend Cri our here to celebrate Cri's 17th birthday!" It was amazing, the room when from silent to a deafening roar in less than a second. Raven covered he ears and shrank into a corner trying to get away from the noise.

From her spot Raven could see what was happening on the stage. The cat creature pounced on Cri and proceeded to give her a knoogie and seriously mess up her hair. She was then pulled out of the cat creature's arms only to be given a crushing 'Starfire' hug by a Frankenstein like thing. After the Frankenstein thing let go and after suffering from a few broken ribs she got some rather hard pats on the back from a very large white furry thing that Raven could only describe as a yeti.

The succubi sisters and the vampire managed to keep most of the others at bay. As soon as everyone calmed down the vampire set down a goblet in front of the half crushed girl. She grabbed it and chugged it, feeling her ribs heal. "Thanks Demitri. I owe ya one." Demitri smiled showing his fangs. "I am just pleased that I could help." He walked away, his cape trailing behind him.

Cri smiled as she watched him. She had always looked at Demeiti like the older brother she never had. She was torn from her thoughts as she felt a small tug on the back of her shirt. She turned to see 'little red riding hood' standing behind her with a hastily wrapped gift. "Happy birthday Cri!" She exclaimed happily. "Thanks B.B.Hood." She took the gift from her and put it on the edge of the stage and sat next to it.

After B.B.Hood had given Cri a gift everyone started rushing to the corners to wrap theirs. Since the floor seemed temporarily clear Raven ran up to Cri. "Is this normal?" Cri nodded as a present was dropped into her lap. She looked up to see Morrigan and Lilith. "We were a few of the people who wrapped ours early." Cri smiled. "Thanks for remembering."

Cri felt a tap on her shoulder and turned. "Morrigan and Lilith weren't the only ones!" The cat like creature, a werewolf, and Demitri held their presents out. Cri took the presents, her smile getting bigger by the second. "Thanks guys I'm surprised so many people remembered." She put them next to Morrigan, Lilith, and B.B.Hood. A raspy voice sounded behind her. "Well you shouldn't be surprised; you did help us out quite a bit." Cri turned to see the guitar playing zombie, the Frankenstein, the yeti, and a fish man hold out their own presents. Cri took them and thanked them, putting them with the others.

Cri's pile of gifts slowly grew and soon it was at least as tall as her and twice as wide. "Thank you all so very much. And now that I have them all here I will start with this one at the top of the pile so the presents don't collapse on me like they did last year." Cri earned many snickers as memories of last year came up. Cri ripped into her gifts excitedly. Some of the gifts she received included; a book full of spells for warping opponent's minds from Demitri, the frankenstein, Victor, gave her an electrified sword that can call down lightning bolts. B.B.Hood gave her a Ingram MAC 10 with silver nitrate bullets, Morrigan and Lilith gave her a box of soul crystals from different elemental demons, and the cat creature, Felicia, actually gave her a pet hopping mouse named Tiny.

After lunch, and a few games that would have seemed suicidal back on earth, Cri was making a portal to go back to her own dimension. Cri waved goodbye to all of her friends and Raven acknowledged them with a friendly nod. "Bye guys, I promise to come back soon!" Cri grabbed Raven's cape and her bag of presents and walked through the portal, dragging the goth with her.

As soon as the emerged back in Titans Tower she was knocked over by the huge sound blast that hit her. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRI!!!!!" The entire tower was decorated beautifully in red and black. Blood red streamers hung from the ceiling and the counter was covered in ebony black lace. There was a huge 3 layer cake on the table. It was completely covered in non-glossy, double fudge, jet black frosting. A translucent cherry corn syrup, red as blood, had been dumped carelessly over the top, dripping down the sides before stopping and thickening. This same syrup was put in between each layer and was allowed to ooze out the sides. The actual cake was chocolate with cheesecake swirled in with it. All Cri could do was stare at the cake. To any normal person the cake would have looked great, but to a dhampir, it was a cake fit for the great council, unworthy for any common vampire.

"Ummmm guys?" Cri asked her voice shaking a little. "Could we have cake right now? That has to be the best cake I have ever seen…And who told you I liked cherry? On that note, who told you it was my birthday?" Cyborg smiled. "Y'all underestimate my hearing Cri." Cri mentally slapped herself. Of course Cyborg would have heard her. He has ultrasonic hearing. "Thanks so much. You really didn't have to do anything for me. I usually go to the Dark Realm for my birthday. That's why I went to that other dimension. I took Raven because I thought she would blend in." Cyborg laughed out loud and Starfire floated up to Cri and gave her a bone crushing hug. "Do not worry friend Cri! We would never not celebrate your day of birth! After all, it only comes once a year." Once Starfire let go Cri's ribs had been rebroken and she slumped to the floor gasping for air.

It took Cri roughly 5 minutes to heal with no blood to aid her. When she finally got up the Pizza had arrived. Cri later learned of the intense argument that had resulted over what pizza she would like. It had finally been decided to order 2 large pizzas with toppings on the side.

Cri had eaten her garlic, sausage, and mushroom pizza dinner with amazing speed and impatiently waited for everyone else to finish theirs. "Now can we please have cake?" She begged. Robin laughed out loud. "What?" she growled angrily. "Nothing Cri…I just have never seen you this impatient." There was a moment of silence before Cri chuckled softly. "I guess your right Robin…I'm sorry about that. I get my impatient side from my mother." As she said this Beastboy had started unconsciously rubbing his forearm where it had been broken by Cri's mother during the Halloween party a few weeks ago. "I can agree with that." He mumbled angrily.

After at least 3 large pieces of cake Cri jumped over the couch and sat down, picking up a game station controller. Come on guys, I'll play ya!" Cri quickly started to leaf through the games, silently wishing that someone would separate the multiplayer from the single player. She quickly picked a game, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and pulled it out glancing at the one behind it. She did a double take and picked up the other game. "Dark Stalkers…If only Morrigan and Lilith could see this." She quickly put Dark Stalkers back and tossed S.S.B.M. to Beastboy. "You're goin' down!" Cyborg grinned and sat next to Beastboy. "Not a chance." He said, his smile growing. "Whatever," Cri said, letting her eyes wander around the room. She suddenly jumped up and shouted, "I call shotgun!!! First controller is mine!" Beastboy and Cyborg groaned in disappointment and handed her the first controller. "Thank you." She smiled showing off her fangs and sat down next to them. The players were quickly chosen; Cri picked Sammus, Beastboy picked link, and Cyborg picked DK, and the games began.

After beating Cyborg and Beastboy at least 25 times in a row, Cri stretched and put her controller down. "Sorry guys, I need to go stretch out my muscles before I start getting cramps." Cyborg smiled weakly. "Fine then, chicken out. The 26th times a charm." Cri just rolled her eyes. "If you ever try and act like you were 'just going easy' on me again I will make sure that you're my next meal, understand?" All the color drained out of their faces and they quickly nodded back. "Good now if you will excuse me I'm gonna…" Cri suddenly stiffened and looked to the far wall. Raven looked up from her book, eyes wide. Apparently she felt it too. "No, no not now." Cri whispered under her breath. She cursed softly and sighed. "I'm gonna go to bed now. I'm gonna need my strength in the morning." Cri quickly walked into the elevator, ignoring the stares of the other Titans and Spike who had started to follow her, and rode up to her room.

The next morning when the Titans came down for breakfast, chatty as usual, a very odd site met them. Spike was pacing nervously around the room. Cri's Laptop, the one she told everyone not to touch under penalty of torture, the one that Cri wouldn't let out of her sight half the time, the one that she keeps locked closed with electrified defense systems, was sitting on the coffee table, unfolded, turned on, with folders open. On top of that there was no Cri around making breakfast or to yell at them to get away from her computer.

Raven walked up to the laptop, wary of its ability to electrocute someone to the point of needing life support. A small note was taped to the corner of the screen. Cri's italic like handwriting was easy to recognize. The note read "click 'ok' for an explanation." By this time all the Titans had gathered around the computer. Raven shrugged and moved the mouse, whose pointer looked like the scientific symbol for brimstone, over the small 'OK' button and clicked.

A video of Cri popped up on the screen. The image smiled weakly and began to talk. "Hello Titans. If you're watching this then you should know I am going to be gone for awhile. A small charge of dark energy was used to summon me to Brimstone's base and now I have been given a mission of dire importance. There is a world deep into a human/vampire war that threatens to destroy their very universe and, in turn, pull all the others down with it. I have to stop it at all costs. I do not know how long I will be away where you are because time is sometimes different between dimensions. All I do know is that the war has no end in sight. So I bid you fair thee well Titans. I will return if I'm not killed. And now that I don't need Raven's help to revive me I really don't think I'm going to stay dead." She smiled at the camera again and seemed to reach for the mouse. "Oh I almost forgot to tell you. I left Spike here to help you on your city saving missions and Beastboy, for my computers sake, please don't touch it. This is Agent BloodCri, first class supernatural assassin working for the brimstone society, signing off."

THEEND?

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VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! ::deep breath:: VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!


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